Cooking at FW Cabins vs Dining Plan

[GloMonkey]

Ok, I've been looking at renting a cabin for about 5 days for about $1300 week. Yikes. BUT I was wondering if the cost would be off set becasue you have a full kitchen and could cook and save money. However I am also wondering if just getting the dining plan it ends up being 6 of one half doz of another. So how much does each meal break down per person on the dining plan? This is how I figured it:

$8 day per perosn for breakfast
$15 day per person for Lunch
$25 day per person Dinner
$5 day per person snack

too high??

I KNOW I could cook for cheaper.

thanks

[SFTrny]

I appreciate the cost-based considerations here. We love the cabins at FW for lots of reasons, and the cost offset of meals is nice, but I'm not sure that it will wind up being a definitive reason. When we stay at the cabins, we love having breakfast in the room every morning. I think we save easily an hour of prep time in the morning with everyone having breakfast in shifts as we shower and get dressed...as opposed to everyone getting dressed and then going to a restaurant. We also love going back to the room in the afternoon (3 or 4) and watching videos & Stacey while we make dinner and recharge. Then we head back out to the parks.

[Tygger7]

From what you wrote, it looks like you were considering the deluxe dining plan. You can definitely do a dining plan cheaper, and if you really want to save $$, you can do all counter service meals for even less. The other thing to consider is this: You're on vacation, at Disney World...do you really want to waste time cooking?

There are menus & prices available under Info Central, but as a general rule, figure (per person):

$5 Breakfast (we grab cereal, or a cinnamon roll)
$8 Lunch (Counter service, w/drink)
$8-10 Dinner (Counter service) or $15-20 (Table service)
$5 per snack (optional)

So, if you're frugal, you could eat for around $20 per person, per day. My favorite is still the regular dining plan...it's more than enough food, and we use our snack credits to eat breakfast (muffin, cinnamon roll, etc.)....and you get to do a TS every day, or save up & do a 2 TS for a special event (like Hoop Dee Doo Review).

Feel free to post with any more questions!!

[GloMonkey]

thanks for the replies.

I went on the website and "booked" (fake booked) a package staying at the cabins. It broke down this way:

Cabin @$255x7 days = $2,008
8 day park hopper tickets x4=$1,312
total $3,320

WITH the dining plan add $867 or $217 per person for the week for a total of $4,188.00

Basically I can buy a LOT of groceries for that price. Heck I could spend $150 on groceries for the week and do pretty dang good. So IMO for US paying more for a cabin with full kitchen is better than staying at a cheapo hotel and buying the dining plan. The time savings alone is worth it to us. I love the idea of using a croc pot too.

[SFTrny]

Don't forget that the cabins also have an outdoor grill on the deck if you want to cookout some evening!

For the math though, you might want to also look at adding in the cost of a golf cart at FW. They make getting around SO much easier.

[wdwfansince75]

[quote=Tygger7;1720366]
There are menus & prices available under Info Central, but as a general rule, figure (per person):

$5 Breakfast (we grab cereal, or a cinnamon roll)
$8 Lunch (Counter service, w/drink)
$8-10 Dinner (Counter service) or $15-20 (Table service)
$5 per snack (optional)

So, if you're frugal, you could eat for around $20 per person, per day. My favorite is still the regular dining plan...it's more than enough food, and we use our snack credits to eat breakfast (muffin, cinnamon roll, etc.)....and you get to do a TS every day, or save up & do a 2 TS for a special event (like Hoop Dee Doo Review).

Uh....5 plus 8 plus 8-10 (or 15-20) plus 5 is 26-38.....just a wee bit more than 20.....DW and I used to plan $25 per day per person, plus 2 character meals for the clan....spent more than that in June....

Note that for 2009, Disney does have a CS version of the DDP for about $30 per day....lets you get 2 CS's and 2 snacks per day....

With free parking, and the ability to park right at the cabin, returning to the cabins for one meal, either lunch or dinner, per day, without losing too much park time....

[thatchick]

thanks for the replies.

I went on the website and "booked" (fake booked) a package staying at the cabins. It broke down this way:

Cabin @$255x7 days = $2,008
8 day park hopper tickets x4=$1,312
total $3,320

WITH the dining plan add $867 or $217 per person for the week for a total of $4,188.00

Basically I can buy a LOT of groceries for that price. Heck I could spend $150 on groceries for the week and do pretty dang good. So IMO for US paying more for a cabin with full kitchen is better than staying at a cheapo hotel and buying the dining plan. The time savings alone is worth it to us. I love the idea of using a croc pot too.

Most cheapo hotels are off property..and you will not be able to purchase the DDP.